Questions emerge about validity of former Paterson mayor’s severance check

PATERSON – Almost half the $73,996 severance payment that former mayor Jose “Joey” Torres got on his last day in office in 2010 stemmed from a city policy that allows long-serving employees to get extra reimbursement for unused sick days, according to municipal documents.

Paterson’s non-union employees with 20 years of service get a maximum of $15,000 for accumulated sick days, according to city policy. But workers with “25 or more years of service with the City” can get paid for an extra 80 unused sick days.

Payroll records say Torres received $23,752 for 52 unused vacation days, plus $15,000 for one allotment of 32.84 accrued sick days and another $35,244 for 77.16 sick days above the $15,000 cap.

But several city council members say Torres was not entitled to be compensated for sick days above the $15,000 limit because he lacked the requisite 25 years of service in city government as stipulated in Paterson’s personnel policies.

Torres served as a part-time councilman for 12 years and as mayor for eight years. He also had been employed as purchasing agent for the Paterson Housing Authority, where he started on the payroll five years before getting elected to the council.

Torres said his time at the housing authority gave him enough service to reach the 25-year threshold. That determination was made by his business administrator, Eli Burgos, and his personnel director, Fernando Fuentes, he said.

“I don’t know,’’ Torres said, when asked what the basis was for counting housing authority time towards his city benefits. “It wasn’t something I filled out.’’ Still, the former mayor said he agreed with the decision. “It’s an agency of the city,’’ he said of the housing authority.

Others disagreed. “There seems to be some curious math going on,’’ said Mayor Jeffery Jones, who defeated Torres in the 2010 election and may face him again in what promises to be a crowded race next year.

“It doesn’t seem to hold water,’’ said Councilman William McKoy. “It’s an autonomous body with a separate board and is incorporated separately,’’ McKoy said of the housing authority. “They are not one and the same with the city. They may share similar goals and support similar services, but they are not one and the same.”

McKoy pointed out that the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development recently shifted management of a rent subsidy program from city government to the housing authority. “They don’t consider it the same,’’ the councilman said of the federal government.

Irma Gorham, the housing authority’s executive director, could not be reached for comment.

The fact that Torres received severance pay on his last day as mayor was made public by former city councilman Aslon Goow – a bitter rival of Torres – at a televised council meeting in late July. That disclosure sparked a political firestorm, especially with Torres looming as a likely candidate in the upcoming mayoral election. He held a campaign fundraiser at the Meadowlands racetrack’s Pegasus restaurant just three days after the news of the severance check broke.

City treasury officials said the check was issued “off-line,” or apart from the regular payroll checks. A stamped version of Torres’ signature provided authorization on the front of the check. He signed the back when he cashed it.

Documents that the city provided in response to a public records request show the check covered 162 accumulated leave days paid at a rate of $456.76 per day, which was based on Torres’ final mayoral salary of $118,757.

Among the documents was a Sept. 19, 2005 memo to Torres from Betty Taylor, who was assistant personnel director at the time. Taylor told Torres she had checked the personnel files on the two mayors who preceded him in office, Martin Barnes and Bill Pascrell Jr.

“From the time they were appointed Mayor there are no timesheets or record dealing with sick and vacation,’’ read’s Taylor’s memo.

“As for council staff they do not do timesheets either,’’ reads the memo. “They receive no sick or vacation time. There are personnel files on records (sic) but they do not reflect any benefits except for medical and pension.”

Two other former Paterson mayors, Thomas Rooney and Pat Kramer, also say they did not get any allotments of sick and vacation days, or any payments for unused leave time.

City documents show Torres was getting 15 sick days and 26 vacation days per year.

Paterson’s policy on vacation days allows employees to carry over one year’s work of unused time. So when Torres left office, the maximum number for which he could have gotten paid was the 52 days that were covered in the severance check.

Without getting sick time in his tenure as a councilman, the maximum number of sick days that Torres could have accrued in his eight years as mayor was 120, based on the information in city documents. He cashed in 110. Because of the size of his salary, the maximum number he could have collected on was 112.84 days, based on city policies and records.